TC,s

[dicklaxt]

I have been doing a bit of reading and questioning this morning on the TC and it looks like about 75 to 80 % against,makes you wonder why they are even available


Wats your take on this?

dick

[jerryph]

TC? Can you be a little more precise when using acronyms?

Are you referring to a TELECONVERTER?

[dicklaxt]

Yes sorry a Teleconverter it is.

dick

[jerryph]

Cheap teleconverters give cheap results. Expensive ones give better results. ALL teleconverters lose anywhere from 1-2 stops of light or more because of what they do.

You really cannot group them all together. A Nikon 1.4X, 1.7X or 2.0X teleconverter is FAR superior to some cheap TC made by Kenko or Sigma. I am talking about when using on Nikon cameras and lenses, of course.

[dicklaxt]

In doing further reading I think I will pass on a TC and save my money for a better lens. In my travels it seems that folks are about 75 to 25 against but I'm sure there are a lot of satisfied customers too.

dick

[coffee]

You are making the right choice for now I think Dick. I bought one when I bought my 1-400L. There are focus issues when using TC's and the 40D.

I rarely use mine, but when I do I expect to have to manual focus.

[jerryph]

Quality glass over accessories any day of the week. Of course current equipment makes a difference.

For example, slapping a 2X teleconverter on a 200mm lens with a F/5.6 aperture turns it into a 400mm at F/11. This means that this setup is pretty much useless at all but the brightest of days.

In steps technology.

If you started off with a quality lens that does 200mm at F/2.8, a 2X TC brings that up to F/5.6, and this is already a tremendous gain, but... here is where it gets interesting... if you have a camera that is clean at high ISO, and crank it up two full stops from ISO 200 to ISO 800, you are back to having F/2.8 apertures, but now at 400mm! Now imagine if you are using a camera like a D3 or D700, a camera that has usable ISO up to 6400 or more, and you can do all kinds of things like raise ISO and close down the aperture to increase DOF without decreasing the needed shutter speed to get the shot!

With the Nikon cameras using Nikon TCs, you do not lose autofocus and there is no real loss of quality, however the cost of the 2X TC is almost as much as most midrange lenses, in the $400 range. This becomes an acceptable price when you consider that a quality 400mm F/2.8 lens is easily in the $3500-$5000 range.

However, if your camera is not clean to ISO 1600, it makes choices a whole lot more difficult, more so when the TC prevents the camera from properly focusing.

[LensBaby]

I would take the lens over the TC anytime.